Message to People in Prison

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Dear friends,

I am Michael Santos, and I hope it’s okay for me to refer to you as “friends.” I may not know every person who connects with our team at Prison Professors, but I consider all of you my brothers and sisters. As someone who served 26 years in federal prison, I understand the journey. It’s important to me to work toward reforms that will open more opportunities for people to earn freedom. We’re investing a lot to continue our advocacy, and I wanted to send this update with hopes that you’ll help.

A MESSAGE FOLLOWING THE FOURTH OF JULY

I'm writing this message on July 8, just after the Fourth of July celebration. I remember what those holidays were like inside visiting rooms. This year, my wife and I celebrated by taking a long walk along Strand Beach in Dana Point, California. As we walked, I shared with Carole how excited I feel about the changes we’re working to bring forward for people in prison.

For the past year, I’ve been building new pathways—ones that I hope will lead to real improvements. Those improvements include access to furloughs, access to home confinement, access to work-release programs, and a better Earned Time Credit system. I believe that all people in prison should have access to Earned Time Credits, regardless of offense. I also believe that there should be no limits on how much a person can earn. If you’re working to pursue excellence, the system should offer you merit-based rewards. It’s a long push, but I’m committed to influencing policymakers, Bureau of Prisons officials, and legislators to bring these reforms to life.

MY STRATEGY INCLUDES YOU

There’s a lot on my plate, but I have a strategy. That strategy includes you. Every person who receives this message has a role to play.

At Prison Professors, we are building free tools that empower you to document your journey and prepare for success. I make three promises to everyone who walks this path with us. First, I will never lie to you. Second, I will never ask you to do anything I didn’t do while I was in prison. Third, I will never ask anyone to pay for the free resources we provide through our nonprofit, Prison Professors. Share this message with your family and friend, and invite them to follow us on social media so they can see our work.

To succeed, we need to build our coalition, generating more support. You can help. We believe everyone in prison should be able to build a record that proves their worthiness for release, and that is the reason we offer everything for free to people in prison. Our program at Prison Professors Talent, for example, helps us to expand that mission.

HOW TO PARTICIPATE

If you haven’t already, I encourage you to build your profile on Prison Professors Talent. It’s a place to memorialize the work you're doing to prepare for success. Don’t let government press releases or past convictions define your story. Build your profile to show how you’re developing a new narrative and you will generate support.

To participate, send a message to Interns@PrisonProfessors.org. Share your biography. Write journal entries. Submit book reports. Draft your release plan. Every time you submit work, you earn points. If you encourage someone else to participate and they mention your name, you’ll earn the same points they do. That system continues if they introduce others. We feature all those points on our website, and stakeholders always see who is at the top.

WHY THE POINT SYSTEM MATTERS

We use the point system for a reason. Those points show up on a leaderboard on our website. When I advocate for change—when I speak with lawmakers or prison officials—I show them that leaderboard. It gives stakeholders a chance to see who is doing the work. Anyone can rise to the top of the leaderboard by documenting their progress and staying consistent. By developing your profile and spreading the message, you become part of our advocacy campaign for reform.

Our leaderboard/impact page shows the following: 1,396 people have built profiles; 410 people have published their biography page; 5785 journal entries have been published, 882 book reports have been published, and 99 people have published release plans.

To bring the changes we need, we need to build our system to include 10,000 people who are actively documenting their preparations for success upon release. Be the change that you want to see! Build a profile, and develop it by fleshing it out. You can help usher in changes that will open more opportunities for people to earn freedom through merit.

This is the time!

VISITING FEDERAL PRISONS

I’m also working to visit more federal prisons. On July 16 and August 12, I’ll make presentations at the Victorville complex. If you’re at Victorville, please ask your reentry coordinator if you can attend my presentation. I don’t yet know which specific facility I’ll be visiting on each date, but I hope to see as many of you as possible. Please bring your questions, as the Q and A session is always the most valuable. Ask me anything about my journey before prison, my adjustment through the 9,500 days I served, or the work I’ve been doing since I finished my term, on August 12, 2013.

Most importantly, I’ll encourage everyone to build a record of preparation that leads to liberty. Decisions in prison have a direct relationship to prospects for success on the other side of the journey.

MOVING FORWARD TOGETHER

Reform takes energy, persistence, and time. So does preparing for success. I hope you’ll join our efforts by working on yourself, documenting your path, and helping others do the same. If you’d like me to visit your prison, share this message with your reentry coordinator. To the extent I have time, energy, and resources, I’ll make the trip at my own expense.

With hope and commitment,

Michael Santos

SELF-DIRECTED QUESTIONS

To assist you in building your profile, consider the following questions. Draft your response and publish it on the profile you create. Your answers may advance you as a candidate for relief.

1. How would I define success for my future?
2. What steps am I taking today to move closer to that vision?
3. In what ways am I using my time inside to grow, learn, and prepare?
4. Have I written my personal biography to show others how I’ve changed and what I’m striving to achieve?
5. What books have I read that influenced my values, mindset, or goals? Have I written a book report to explain what I learned?
6. What does my daily or weekly journaling say about my growth, discipline, or insight?
7. Do I have a clear and realistic release plan that shows how I intend to succeed and contribute to society?
8. Who else around me could benefit from building a profile? Have I shared this opportunity with them?
9. What can I do this week to move one step higher on the leaderboard?
10. What legacy do I want to leave behind from my time inside?
11. If a decision-maker reviewed my profile today, would they see someone who is ready for more liberty?

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